Microphotonics devices, such as microphotonic resonator disks, and other optoelectronic devices find wide application in microwave technology, such as in converting microwave data transmission having high data rates into optical signals compatible with optical fiber networks. For example, microphotonic resonant disks find application in microphotonic millimeter-wave receivers, based on Lithium Niobate resonator disk technology. Microphotonic resonator disks need to be interconnecting with other optical electronic devices in order to perform their desired operation and, in order to do so, optical coupling mechanisms or arrangements need to be provided.
Known optical coupling mechanisms currently being utilized for microdisk-based optical receivers use bulky components for coupling light, such as laser light, into microdisks and for decoupling laser light out of the microdisks. Since the optical coupling mechanisms are implemented with bulky components, these optical coupling mechanisms are not suitable for use in integrating and interconnecting all of the microphotonic components and optical devices embodied in, for example, microphotonic millimeter-wave receivers. It is desired that an optical coupling mechanism or arrangement be provided so that all of the optical electronic devices including the microphotonic resonator disk may be packaged and interconnected onto a chip or substrate and all such interconnected elements operatively cooperate with each other to form microphotonic systems, such as microphotonic millimeter-wave receivers.
The optical coupling mechanism or arrangement needs to be provided that allows for low-loss coupling of optical power into and out of the microphotonic resonant disk. In order to provide for the low-loss coupling, the optical coupling arrangement needs to accommodate laser light that is derived through indirect excitation of guided modes (GM) using evanescent fields, as known in the art. To accommodate the guided modes associated with evanescent fields, prisms are normally utilized. It is desired that the optical coupling arrangement accommodate prisms, as well as other optoelectronic devices, so that all devices are packaged and integrated onto a single chip or substrate and all such elements operatively cooperate with each other to provide microphotonic systems.